Full Transcript: ABC News Iowa Republican Debate

CONGRESSWOMAN MICHELE BACHMANN: In 1974, I went to Israel for the first time and I worked on a kibbutz for the summer. And I saw a brand new nation that had begun in 1948 and was making its way into the modernization that we know today. They're a first world nation. I was able to return as a member of Congress multiple times, and I also met with Fayad in Ramallah in the very room that Arafat used as his conference room. When I was in there, I-- I had asked Fayad about the issue that we were very concerned about, and that's how the Palestinians teach their children to hate the Jews and call them pigs and swine and descendants from Hades.

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Okay, but do you think--

CONGRESSWOMAN MICHELE BACHMANN: And I-- and let me finish--

(OVERTALK)

CONGRESSWOMAN MICHELE BACHMANN: And I have asked him about this very important issues, because how do you find peace when you continue to teach your children hatred? And asked Fayad about this issue, and he said, "Oh, tha-- we don't do that anymore. Our textbooks aren't filled with that."

And I said, "Oh really?" I pulled out a manila envelope that I'd brought with me, and I pulled out the pages that I'd photocopied out of current books that were being used that clearly showed that. And he said, "Oh, but these are old textbooks." And he said-- I said, "Really? Well, then why don't you send me the new textbooks that no longer say that and compare them with the old?" And I checked my mailbox today; he still hasn't me those textbooks. That's what needs to change.

SENATOR RICK SANTORUM: Well, I-- I think you have to speak the truth-- but you have to do so with prudence. I mean, it's-- it's a combination. Th-- and, you know, I-- I-- I sat there and I listened to both of 'em; I thought they both had-- made excellent points.

But we're in a real-life situation. This isn't an academic exercise. We've got-- we have a-- we have an ally, and the policy of this country should be to stand shoulder to shoulder with our ally. And-- we-- we didn't have an ally in the Soviet Union. The only allies we had were sitting in gulags, and they desperately needed to hear the truth. And Ronald Reagan provided that truth.

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: So-- so do we--

SENATOR RICK SANTORUM: Here, we have--

(OVERTALK)

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: --with prudence, would that be saying (NOISE) Palestinians are invented or not?

SENATOR RICK SANTORUM: If I can finish my s-- comment, I'll get to that, George. (LAUGHTER) That-- that we-- we have an ally here that we have to work closely with. And I think Mitt's point was-- was the correct one. We need to be working with the Israelis to find out, you know what? Is this a wise thing for us to do, to step forward and to engage this issue? Maybe it is.

My guess is, at this point in time, it's not. Not that we shouldn't tell the truth, but we should be talking to our allies. It's their fight. We are to be their ally, we're to be-- supporting them. And I'm-- I-- I've been out here very publicly-- that the Israelis have the right to determine what happens in their land. And all of Israel, including the quote-- you know, West Bank, is Israeli land. And we need to work with them as to the solution that works best for our ally.